HMS Gloucester (D96)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 HMS Gloucester |
|
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Gloucester (D96) |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Builder: | Vosper Thorneycroft |
| Laid down: | 29 October 1979 |
| Launched: | 2 November 1982 |
| Commissioned: | 11 September 1985 |
| Motto: | Prorsum ("Onwards") |
| Fate: | Active in service as of 2008 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Type 42 destroyer |
| Displacement: | 5,200 tonnes |
| Length: | 141 m (462.5 ft) |
| Beam: | 15.2 m (50 ft) |
| Propulsion: | COGOG (Combination of Gas or Gas) turbines, 2 shafts 2 turbines producing 36 MW |
| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Complement: | 287 |
| Armament: |
Twin Sea Dart missile launcher |
| Aircraft carried: | Lynx HMA8 |
HMS Gloucester (D96) is a batch three Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy. The ship was built by Vosper Thorneycroft at Woolston, Southampton and launched on 2 November 1982 by The Duchess of Gloucester. The present HMS Gloucester was one of the last four of the class to be built. They have a lengthened hull design giving better seakeeping qualities and greater endurance.
Gloucester served in the Gulf War in 1991 where her most notable action was employing her Sea Dart missiles to shoot down an Iraqi Silkworm missile that was threatening the USS Missouri (BB-63). The ship was also under threat from sea mines and relied upon its detachment of Royal Marines to detect and avoid this danger. The ship's Lynx helicopter was also deployed on numerous occasions to deploy the ship's Royal Marines to search suspicious shipping. More notably it was involved in the destruction of numerous Iraqi small craft.
The ship retains links with the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment and the City of Gloucester. The ship's crest features a horseshoe, part of the City's Tudor Arms.
During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, HMS Gloucester was the first Royal Navy vessel to evacuate British nationals from Beirut, docking on 18 July 2006. She made three trips taking evacuees to Cyprus, and was the last Royal Navy ship to leave Beirut.[1]
She underwent a £6 million re-fit at Rosyth Dockyard in Fife, Scotland, in 2007.
[edit] Affiliations
[edit] References
- ^ Praise for UK Lebanon evacuation. BBC News (3 August 2006).
[edit] External links
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Miscellaneous vessels
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| List of ship names of the Royal Navy | |||
